


Finding Hygge

by UnseeliePrince



Series: Bloodstained Tapestries [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 2P Hetalia, 2P Italians and 2P Germans play a large supporting role, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Humor, Background Character Death, Developing Relationship, F/M, Government Agencies, Italian Mafia, Most European characters make an appearance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, Violence, these tags are terrible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 18:39:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12659160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnseeliePrince/pseuds/UnseeliePrince
Summary: Hygge: A Dano-Norwegian word used to describe the feeling of warmth and togetherness often associated with the home.The history of Kjersti Nilsen was a blood soaked tapestry woven from lies, half-truths, and secrets since her birth, which lay hidden in such cold darkness that hygge was unknown concept. The somewhat oppressive heat of Italian summers was the only warmth familiar to her. Life though, always had an unusual way of teaching her.





	Finding Hygge

**_Prologue_ **

 

 

* * *

 

_ “To be human is to have a collection of memories that tells you who you are and how you got there.”  _

_ -Rosencrans Baldwin _

 

* * *

  
  


 

**19 May 199X- Minsk, Belarus**

 

She remembers standing outside of a small bakery. Deep blue eyes gazed through the store window from behind pale ash fringe as a young girl thought about why she had been left there in the first place. It wasn't the first time she had stood by waiting like this and she knew it was unlikely to be the last. As usual, her father had a private meeting with someone to discuss why they were in the country in the first place. Not one to divulge information like that to her, the young girl was well aware of the fact that her father kept her in the dark about a lot of things, but she really didn't mind. As dangerous as it was helping her father out, she preferred it to staying home with his wife.

Letting out a small sigh as she stared through the window, the young girl tucked a strand of her long locks behind her ear and smoothed out the front of her navy trenchcoat, absently clasping her hands in front of her. However, she was soon pulled out of her thoughts by an unknown presence and a chipper voice. Turning to face the person speaking to her, the girl’s searching gaze was quickly met by a pair of spell-bindingly bright blue eyes belonging to a boy who couldn't have been too much older than herself.

"You look hungry… Ya want one?" The teen asked in casual Belarusian, causing the girl to wonder how long he had been watching her because she hadn't exactly been staring at it for simply a few moments. She knew it was likely longer than she really should have, but there had been a lot on her mind when it came to this assignment. So, giving the blond boy a wary look, she eventually nodded. A little bit of food would probably be good for her; after all it was hard to say when she would eat an actual meal next.

As she carefully watched him head inside, she noted that he purchased two of the pastries she had been idly staring at, handing her one as he returned to her. Despite watching the exchange, she still was a little uncertain if the item was safe to eat. Her deep-rooted distrust for people made this uncomfortably awkward for her. It soon became apparent that the boy had picked up on her unease.

"What?" He began with a teasing smile. "It's not like I poisoned it or anything. You watched me pay for it and come right back out." He joked, holding the treat out for her. Carefully taking the pastry, she slowly nibbled on it as the wild haired teen took a large mouthful. "So, you here alone or do you have family looking for you?" He asked in between bites as the girl blinked back her astonishment at the way he ate. Nodding slightly, she spoke once all the food in her mouth was gone.

"Yes, I'm here with my father." She said carefully, before politely taking another small bite as the teen nodded in return, swallowing what was in his. "Yeah? So, why are standing out here by yourself then?" He asked, though it was obvious the question made was either out of boredom or concern and nothing more. Whether it was his own or the teen picking up on her’s, she indulged the young man in polite conversation.

"Oh, he just went to get something from one of the shops and asked me to wait here for him. Something about it being a surprise." While that wasn't completely true, it wasn't completely false either. Her father had gone into one of the other shops, but there was no surprise about that. He had a private meeting with one of his associates in the city and she was to wait outside and act as an extra pair of eyes should any face she recognized as trouble were to show, she could warn people. The meeting though wasn't supposed to be long and was likely not going to be much trouble for either of them, but he had warned her when they first entered the country that nothing about this assignment seemed right.

As they continued to talk though, her instincts began screaming at her. How long had she been out here on her own? How long had her father been away? This was supposed to be a brief meeting, but time felt as though it had been dragging on far longer than they had planned for.

The girl cast a quick glance toward the meeting site. Still no sign of him. This must have been why her father wanted to to stand watch. He knew this meeting could run long, which meant this assignment was more difficult than they had been first led to believe.

A hand waved in front of her eyes, pulling her from her musings.

“You okay?” The teen boy asked, a concerned frown marred his otherwise sunny features. A hand reached out towards her and she took an instinctive step backwards, causing the frown he wore to deepen.

Another question began to form on his lips when she spoke up instead. “I see my father. I should go now. It was nice talking with you.” The tone used was far too rushed and she knew it. Too suspicious, but she needed to get away and rather quickly at that.

Ducking into another shop where a man who could passably cover as her father stood browsing the shop’s wares, she moved near the man and stitched on smile. Out of the corner of her eye though, she watched and waited until the teen was cleared from the area. It was only once he disappeared from sight that she exited and made her way towards the meeting location with the intention of intercepting her father. As walked, the feeling of being watched never left.

She breathed out a small sigh of relief as welcomed face caught her attention. “Kjersti.” Her father’s cold tone cut into her like arctic winds and she nervously tucked some pale strands of hair behind her ear. “Why are you in here?” He asked, using the Norwegian that was normally reserved for training and discipline.

“I think we’re being watched…” she explained softly, a touch of uncertainty bleeding into her words as she spoke. The expression that flashed across her father’s controlled face was one she was unfamiliar with and she could feel the nervousness in the pit of her stomach build. “There was boy who kept trying to talk me. I don’t know if he was watching…”

The man smiled down lightly at his daughter, and handed her a book of fairy tales. “There’s been a minor change of plans, so read over this. We act tonight,” He told her, taking one of her hands to help guide her as she read over the information that lay hidden between the pages.

Kjersti schooled her expression once more, realizing that her confusion must have been visible on her features. She knew her father was cryptic when it came to their assignments, but hiding the text amongst the stories in a book of fairy tales was a first. Often times, information was given to her in dossiers if her role was larger, otherwise the man simply verbally explained what it was she was to do next.

One of the last things she remembers from that part of the day is walking slowly through the city with her nose buried in the hardbound book; most of the written words still foreign to her eyes. From there it’s fragmented flashes of memories. The weight of the small firearm in her young hands. Heavy rain and darkness shadowing the nighttime streets. The sound of too many gunshots and the echoing splash of a body falling onto the soaked pavement. Voices, too quiet and muffled to make out. The feeling of her feet hurrying towards the noises, her weapon drawn. Her father’s lifeless body, contorted and surrounded by the growing mix of blood and rainwater. The panic and fear that seized her, as she collected up the gun that lay in a loose grip before she ran back to to the safe house where the two had been staying. The frenzied rush to burn any and all combustible identifiers she could get her hands on as she tried to eliminate all traces of their presence in Belarus, followed by a knock on the safe house door.

The knock was a code; one she had known to signal an associate. Kjersti remembered the hesitation and her finger on the trigger as she answered the door. The fiery red hair that greeted her was not something easily forgotten, nor was the offer the woman made. Looking back now, she supposed that this was the point in which she sold her soul to the devil. A trade struck. An escape from this country and in exchange, a simple test of skill to prove her usefulness. It would be an easy feat, she knew that much, but for now her concern was to put as much distance between herself and this country.

Eileen, as she would come to know, brought her back to the Italian capital. She had no mental picture of what the devil incarnate would look like, until now. The devil was a banker with dark hair, dark eyes, sun-kissed skin, and dressed in expensively tailored suits, and no one could make her believe otherwise. The devil though, offered her a chance to start a new life and wore a hidden smile when she mentioned contacting her older brother, a trained sniper, to let him know that she was alive and safe in Rome.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This work originally stared off as a RP between my longtime partner and I back in 2010. It soon evolved far beyond that and took on a life of its own. As such we deemed it best to give it the treatment is deserved.


End file.
